Beginning with a Bang: Europe 2014

Funny thing about human perception... my backpack felt quite light as long as people were driving me to & from the airport in India ('cos then they carried it), but when I started thinking about lugging it around Europe myself, it started to seem heavier & heavier.

I unpacked & repackaged frantically as though that would make a difference,  and left the house in a mad scramble, only to realize I'd left my headphones behind. Argh! I obsessed about it through the drive to the airport & the 30 minute baggage drop line - apparently in India everyone checks in online so the line is loooong.  Also, judging by their luggage,  everyone was relocating to London for good. What only did they leave behind in their houses? (Probably not their headphones).

I finally got to the front of the queue and was told I couldn't get on the flight to Rome. Way to put the (not really) heavy luggage & missing headphones in perspective! Here's the thing they should really write on the British Airways website - it's ok to transit through Heathrow London when traveling to India, the US or Canada (all of which I've done in the past) but you NEED a transit visa if you're touring to a Schengen country. Brand new info for me. Consider this a public service announcement and pass on the word - this is a BA policy not a UK one.

Here's what I learned about myself: when there's no one else around to be calm & mature, I don't burst into tears/cussing. I started planning cancellations & rebooting while the ground staff started asking various senior people if there was anything they could do. Fortunately, since I'm eventually going back to North America, they declared that as my final destination and waved me on my way.

By now I only had half an hour to go through immigration,  security,  AND calling the family to update them. And the entertainment system for the entire flight was down so I watched Hunger Games on loop for ten hours. But I was the happiest I've been in ages. Like I said - it's all about perspective. 

PS: blogging with photos & links via my tablet is more of a pain than anticipated.  So I'll update the detailed guide once I'm back (I'm keeping an offline journal) and do one-off posts like this till then.

Applying for a UK Visa

The UK visa process in Toronto changed literally the day after I applied, so nothing I say can be taken as gospel. That said, here are my observations on things that are unlikely to change:

1. For those that know psychometrics – the application form was almost definitely designed by an ISTJ. For those that don’t know psychometrics – it needs a brain-hurting level of detail about everything. 

Do not attempt to fill this form out in ten minutes or even half an hour. I recommend looking through the form once, gathering all the stuff you need, and then filling it out in one sitting later. (Do you know your investment details well? Your parents’ DOB’s, birth towns? Your UK relatives’ home phone numbers? Exactly.)

2. You’ll need to have the Wikipedia entry on Commonwealth countries open, as well as your passport. The form asks you to list every CW country you've visited in the last five years, with dates. And then the non-CW ones. I won’t get into how pointless I thought this was.

(This was actually the only question I answered. The husband filled out the rest of the form for me, reminding me again what a great decision it was to marry him. The last time I went to the UK, my dad filled it all out. I am extraordinarily spoiled.)

3. As with the Schengen visa, check the site for the list of documents you’ll need. Book free-cancellation hotels & flights, plan on insurance, and check your bank balance, because the UK needs a whole lot more than most Schengen countries.

4.  Speaking as someone who’s paid a lot of money for visas over the years, the UK one’s shockingly expensive. They also cross-sell like it’s Domino’s – you can pay extra to schedule an appointment before your office hours, or to expedite processing time, or to have the visa shipped back to you. Or all three. 

On the bright side, you can pay by card. Most people don’t carry around hundreds of dollars in cash, anyway.

5. Again, keep in mind any other travel plans you have before scheduling an appointment. You can’t do international travel without a passport, and you’ll need to check with airlines if other proofs are accepted for domestic travel. You could just pay to expedite the process if you need your passport back sooner.

6. The visa office does not conduct an interview, or even go through your documents, so triple check them before you get to the office. If you leave out anything, you’re going to have to pay that exorbitant sum twice.

7. You’ll be fingerprinted at the appointment. Note the date because you’ll have to note it in future applications. You’ll also be photographed, so dress for posterity.

8. The UK visa typically took between 10-20 days to process. I don’t know if that will change, given VFS Global’s in charge now, but their new site isn't fully updated yet.

Frankly, I wish I was travelling to Ireland as well as London and Scotland on this trip, because I can’t imagine going through the UK visa process again. Sadly, there just isn't time, so I’ll probably have to do this all again in a couple of years. Who could watch PS I Love You and resist Ireland?

(PS: The movie is, unusually, much better than the book. Gerard Butler, we love you.)

Applying for a Schengen Visa

I didn't want to jinx it by offering visa gyaan before I had my duly stamped passport back in my hands :) Being Indian, I've to re-apply every time I want to travel to Europe. The rules keep changing, so it's always freshly nerve wracking. Here are some tips that worked last month:

1. You need to apply for a visa with the consulate of whichever Schengen country you plan to spend the most time in. If it’s a fairly even spread, apply at the consulate of the country you’re flying into. In my case this was Italy. Given how well Indians treat Sonia Gandhi, you’d think we’d be waved into Italy, no questions asked, but nooo.

2. If you’re flying out of the Schengen zone to a country which requires a visa, you need to have the latter visa before applying for the Schengen one. 

3. Go to the relevant consulate’s site to see what documents & bank balance you need. This is a bit of a pain because several websites claim to be the 'official' one. Look for the one that slips back into Italian despite your clicking 'EN' at the top right several times.

4. I highly recommend booking flights & hotels with free cancellation. If your company doesn't cover insurance, you’ll need to buy your own, and Travel Underwriters was the cheapest (reliable) one I found. You'll need to give them 72 hours' notice for a 'proof of coverage' letter.

5. Filling the Schengen visa application form: You need to list all the Schengen countries you’re visiting in the ‘Member State of destination’ field. Similarly, hotel details for all countries are to be listed later in the form. Also, don't stick the photo in the box, just carry it along.

6. Remember you’ll be giving away your passport for 7-20 days after your visa appointment, so don’t schedule international trips in this time. For domestic travel, check if other ID proofs will be accepted by the airline. 

7. Most consulates need you to make an appointment before you show up. I wholeheartedly commiserated with the security guard at the Italian Consulate* who had to futilely open & close the door ten times in the five minutes I was there. And no, he can’t answer any of your questions. 

8. Bring photo ID along when you come. Keep it out if possible. The queue of people behind you will greatly appreciate this, especially when it’s -10 out. Cell phones & laptops may be confiscated at the gate, so leave them at home if possible.

9. Bring the visa processing fees in cash. No discounts for those who've received Schengen visas before, tragically. The nearest ATM to the Italian Consulate in TO is past the AGO.

10. The Italian Consulate in Toronto is notoriously slow, so factor in 1.5 hours for the appointment. They are super-fast at giving you the visa though – I got mine in 6 days’ time.

11. You can either pay to have the visa couriered to you, or go pick it up. I recommend the latter, because it’s important to check your name & the dates for which the visa’s been issued.

12. FYI, you needn't bother with the nice heels when it’s slippery-snowy out, because the officials can’t see them from behind the tiny window anyway. Lesson learned. 

* Did you know the IT consulate in TO is in a historical building dating back to the 1800’s? The Italian government bought the house constructed by a British-born tanner in 1937, and it was confiscated by the Canadian govt in 1939 when WWII began. It was given back to the Italians later, obviously, and they've owned it for over 40 years now. This being Toronto, the building sits right where you’d expect it to – in Koreatown, rather than in Little Italy. Oh, Canada.